QUEERmericana Pride Fest

After the Trans March, come on down to the Verdi Club for a fabulous queer Americana night, featuring an exciting lineup of performers! Proud Mary, Ashleigh Flynn & The Riveters, Secret Emchy Society, and Country Risqué will light up the stage with their unique blends of Americana music, celebrating the spirit and diversity of the LGBTQ+ community.

Proud Mary is the world’s queerest tribute to the much-loved ‘60s-‘70s rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival. The band performs CCR’s many hits, including “Fortunate Son,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Down on the Corner,” and, of course, “Proud Mary.” Plus many more!

Proud Mary is a new project brought to you by members of the San Francisco Bay Area’s most popular tribute bands and original rock groups. Led by the soulful voice of lead singer, McKenzie Fulkerson-Jones (they/them), the group serves up a playful yet fierce take on CCR’s music, with a side of rainbows, tassels and glitter. Joined by Linda Moody (she/her) on guitar, Tori Fulkerson-Jones (she/her) on bass and Jai Bird (she/her) on drums, Proud Mary will put a spell on you at their “Queerwater Revival.”

Proud Mary delivers fresh performances of CCR’s greatest hits and welcomes everyone to join in. Between the iconic guitar licks you expect and some surprising and interactive theatrical elements, you’re sure to be on your feet, grooving and belting along to every song.

With what Pop Matters describes as "tenacious swagger," locally acclaimed solo artist Ashleigh Flynn, from Portland, OR, recently dialed up the volume and debuted an all-female rock band as a nod to the “Rosie the Riveter” archetype from WWII.

​Flynn grew up in Kentucky and cut her teeth on local bluegrass music and Motown. A prolific songwriter and performer blessed with unbridled charisma, she arrived on the Americana scene in 2008 with the release of her third LP, American Dream, a poetic lament to the elusiveness of that national ethos. A Million Stars followed in 2013 – a rollicking journey celebrating the women pioneers of the American West.

​Ashleigh Flynn & The Riveters’ inaugural LP hit the streets in 2018 featuring a sound that hearkens back to early Stones, ‘70s psychedelic country rock, and alternately charms like a Sunday afternoon front porch session. Produced by her longtime musical collaborator, Chris Funk of the Decemberists, the 10 original tracks feature Flynn’s soulful vocals and compelling brand of songwriting, amped-up and virtuously enveloped by the electric guitar work of Nancy Luca. Luca honed her style and skill playing with Tom Petty and Bo Diddley.

​ In 2023, Ashleigh Flynn & the Riveters (AF&TR) remain a musical homage to “Rosie the Riveter,” whose brand inspired a social movement for women to work in America. AF&TR released their first studio album in late 2018 to stellar reviews and a multitude of live performance opportunities until the COVID19 pandemic shut down the live music industry. The Riveters persevered with the release of a live album in 2020, followed by more glowing reviews and multiple major West Coast festival plays.

​ AF&TR continue to break boundaries – like the Rosie’s of the World War II production era. With a batch of new songs in their arsenal, AF&TR embarked on the production of Studio Album Number 2 with a queer female producer and engineer at the helm. While the band itself is making regional waves in a genre underrepresented by female and queer bands (Americana/Country/Rock); queer female engineers and producers are an anomaly in this genre (with the recent exception of Brandi Carlile!).

​With a summer tour in the books, the band hits the road soon and will put the final touches on its second record for release in late 2023/early 2024.

Cindy Emch makes inclusive country music for queer witches, gay cowboys, and all kinds of cowfolks that lives at the intersection of shit-kickery and tenderness, and she cannot wait to play a song just for you.

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Country Risqué is America's riskiest country band: classic honky-tonk, modern values. Formed by singer-songwriters Miles Gordon and Daniel Bromfield who met in Eugene OR in 2012 and upon finding themselves in San Francisco decided to combine their love of country music into a band with a clear and simple credo.

Country Risqué performed its first show in February 2022, with their debut album Doe-Eyed Loverboys & Saints produced by the legendary Sonny Smith (of Sonny & the Sunsets) out now on Rocks in Your Head Records. Defined by the coffee-and-chocolate contrast of Miles Gordon's rich, formally trained vocals and romantic lyrics with Bromfield's dark humor and deadpan singing style, Country Risqué explores queer love and disillusionment in the language of classic tear-in-my-beer honky-tonk music. Country Risqué has grown its numbers since its inception and currently features Richard Moog on lead guitar, Tomas Georgiou on drums, Forest Reid on the lap steel, and Oscar Garcia on bass.

Host or Publisher Verdi Club